‘Tons of Ideas!’: World Urban Forum in Cairo hears calls for youth-led solutions to urban challenges

“What would you like to see in your city?”

This is the simple question printed on one of the walls inside the Egypt International Exhibition Center where the Forum’s 12th session, known as WUF12, is underway.

Many of the young delegates have been enthusiastically scribbling their responses, some exclaiming, “we have tons of ideas!”

Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), which convenes the Forum, stood in a conference room just behind this wall and emphasized with equal enthusiasm that immediate action is required to build homes “for the ones who are being born in this world. We do not want slums to be the birthplace of a new generation.”

That call came as she addressed one of WUF12’s central dialogues: Housing our Future, which saw participants weigh in on the meaning of adequate housing, the barriers to access, and the solutions that have successfully remedied this problem.

“We need to make sure that we plan the cities for the future” and understand how young people live now…and how [they] will live in the future.” Ms. Rossbach emphasized.

Youth-led urban development

Later in the afternoon, children and young people came together for a roundtable conversation about what they want to see in future cities. By actively enabling young people to influence the cities and communities of tomorrow, they aimed to question and alter the status quo.

One of the lead participants is Lujain Romouzy, a 19-year-old dentistry student and Vice-chair of the Leaf Coalition. She is a junior negotiator representing Egypt in UN climate negotiations on ‘loss and damage’ – which refers to the adverse consequences of climate change experienced by developing countries and the push to compensate those countries.

She told UN News that she is attending WUF12 “to advocate for sustainable innovations and their importance in urban planning and sustainable development.”

“I hope everyone can agree on the importance of youth-led initiatives in urban development,” she said, and added: “Youths have tons of creative ideas and innovations that can help reduce emissions while keeping urban development in mind, such as nature-based solutions and projects created by youth.”

‘High expectations’

Lujain and other young participants presented a policy declaration that they had gathered from Egyptian governorates.

“We’re going to take this document to the climate policy assembly and then hand it over to the negotiating team, including myself, to present it at COP29 and ensure that (youth) voices are heard and included,” added Lujain, referring to the upcoming UN climate conference that opens next week in Baku, Azerbaijan.

Quynh Anh Le, a high school student and youth representative for UN-Habitat Vietnam, also prioritizes giving young voices a platform. She told UN News that she has “high expectations” for WUF12 because she considers it to be one of the biggest urban development forums in the world.

“I hope to find projects that I can bring back to my hometown and maybe copy and apply to my own city,” she explained.

Safe urban environments

Meanwhile, Haoliang Xu, Associate Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), told UN News that “young people’s views are critically important.”

“You really have to look at the ecosystem of creating jobs for young people – from education systems to ecosystems that encourage innovation – and provide a safe environment for young people to innovate and establish businesses and financial incentives,” Mr. Xu added.

He pointed out that there are many things “you cannot achieve” without the involvement of young people, adding that “sustainable city urbanization governance needs to take a multi-stakeholder approach.”

He highlighted the vital role played by the Pact for the Future in such efforts, saying that it revalidates the international community’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“If you look at the action areas in the pact, they resonate with all the elements in the SDGs, from adequate housing to inclusive urban governance, to building resilience, to dealing with potential disasters.”

‘Housing is a human right’

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, told UN News that inclusion, including ensuring that women and youths are not discriminated against, is a critical element of a human rights-based approach to housing.

“It means, first of all, a country should have better data on when they actually are violating the rights of particularly vulnerable groups, such as youth, children, or women,” he explained, stressing that unfortunately, many governments don’t collect this kind of data.

He stressed that ‘housing for the future’ means that “we start finally recognizing that housing is a human right.”

“It’s not a commodity, nor simply property owned by the state. But it is something that gives meaning and dignity to people’s lives and gives them security. And it also means that we are more honest about the challenges that we are facing in providing or ensuring access to housing for everyone”, Mr. Rajagopal added.

Cites and the climate crisis

A theme running through almost every WUF12 event on Tuesday was the effects of climate change on cities, and one dialogue session was solely about the topic.

Key questions participants aimed to tackle were: How can cities and communities identify and scale up successful, locally led actions, innovations, and solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation? What measures are necessary to ensure that laws, policies, and innovations aimed at addressing climate change in urban areas foster environmental justice, inclusivity, and equity at the local level?

Meanwhile, UN-Habitat launched on Tuesday in Cairo the 2024 edition of its flagship World Cities Report.

The report warns that with rapidly growing urban populations, particularly cities in high-risk regions, are increasingly vulnerable to climate hazards.

By 2040, if emissions remain unchecked, over 2 billion urban residents could face annual temperatures exceeding 29°C.

The report says that without inclusive policies that include all residents – particularly those traditionally excluded from the benefits urban areas can offer – cities will continue to be exposed to potentially catastrophic impacts due to climate change.

The Forum will continue until Friday, 8 November. UN News is on location in Cairo covering all the action.